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Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) face many anthropogenic risks including illegal shooting, electrocution, collision with wind turbines and vehicles, and lead poisoning. Minimizing or offsetting eagle deaths resulting from human‐caused sources is often viewed as an important management objective. Despite understanding the leading anthropogenic sources of eagle fatalities, existing scientific research supports few practical solutions to mitigate these causes of death. We implemented a non‐lead ammunition distribution program in southeast Wyoming, USA, and evaluated its effectiveness as a compensatory mitigation action to offset incidental take (i.e., fatalities) of golden eagles at wind energy facilities. In 2020 and 2022, we distributed non‐lead ammunition to 699 hunters with big‐game tags specific to our >400,000‐ha study area. These hunters harvested 296 pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), 14 deer (Odocoileus spp.), and 33 elk (Cervus canadensis) in the study area, which accounted for 6.9% and 6.5% of the harvest in these hunt units in 2020 and 2022, respectively. We used road surveys in 2020 to estimate a density of 0.036 (95% CI = 0.018–0.058) golden eagles/km2 during the big game hunting season in our study area. Model output suggests that our non‐lead ammunition distribution program offset the fatality of 3.84 (95% CI = 1.06–23.72) eagles over the course of these 2 hunting seasons. Our work illustrates the potential usefulness of non‐lead ammunition distribution programs as an action to mitigate eagle fatalities caused by wind facilities or other anthropogenic causes of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the image of the Altai Mountains in English travelogues from the second half of the 19th to the early 20th centuries within the context of Orientalism discourses. During the imperial period, this territory of Western Siberia belonged to the category of the so-called “cabinet lands” through which Russian trade with China passed, yet it was poorly developed by the Russian state. From the mid-19th to the early 20th century, Western European discourses exhibited a persistent interest in the Altai Mountains, particularly its southern part, where the Russo-Chinese border ran, populated by Mongols, Kazakhs, and Altaians. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate not only the reasons for such interest but also the main narratives that were formed about this land within the context of cultural and political processes. The work of P. A. Chikhachev, Journey to the Eastern Altai, written in French and published in Paris, shaped the primary concepts of the Altai Mountains — as of the Second Switzerland, little known to Europeans, and inhabited by savages at the lowest stage of civilization. In the early 20th century, English travelogues by Thomas and Lucy Atkinson, E. Demidov, and H. Swayne revealed another aspect of the wild Altai — as of the area for free hunting and self-realization for European aristocrats on the Russo-Mongolian border. This firmly established the stereotype of the southern Altai as a typologically Eastern “terra incognita” inhabited by Orientalized Russians and Asian savages.

While the number of hunters is declining nationally, the demand for big game hunting opportunities in the western United States remains strong. This essay examines big game permit allocation processes in several western states and suggests the status of wildlife is shifting from a public trust resource to a commercial product. As trustees of a public resource, many state wildlife agencies allocate limited big game hunting permits via a random drawing, a method that promotes fairness in the distribution of permits. In recent decades, however, some western states have implemented programs designed to provide guaranteed permits to outfitters or their clients, which goes against the idea of wildlife being a public trust resource. In these situations, the government is effectively subsidizing the outfitting industry. These practices need to end, as state wildlife agencies have a legal obligation to manage wildlife for the public's benefit, not private business interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zambezi region in north-eastern Namibia is located at the centre of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), an area that is endowed with a great variety of wildlife and managed not only to protect this asset but also to promote its proliferation and economic utilisation. In this contribution I consider the notion of hunting in Namibia and explore the realms of local hunting and trophy hunting from the turn of the twentieth century until today. Starting my journey with the depiction of hippo hunting in colonial times, I explore how a hunting narrative was created along the spectacle of hunting big game. Besides the glorification of hippopotami amongst white hunters and early European travellers, the modification of hunting practices that occurred alongside the reconnaissance of this region in the early twentieth century resulted in strong pressures on hippo populations — and wildlife more generally — and led to the strict regulation of all hunting practices in favour of trophy hunting and at the expense of local hunting. This colonial trajectory of hunting has played a major role in the planning and implementation of a conservation landscape that has strong effects on local livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fall season each year, recreationists travel to rural regions across the United States to engage in hunting activities. While there are many reasons for hunting including the acquisition of food, social camaraderie, and enjoyment of nature, the possibility of obtaining a trophy specimen represents a powerful inducement for hunters to participate in a long-standing tradition. This essay analyzes the quest for trophy big game in contemporary American society from a sociological perspective and suggests that several factors have converged in recent decades that promote and encourage trophy hunting of nonhuman animals in the United States, including mass and social media, the hunting industry, and the commercialization of wildlife. The pursuit of trophy big game is an obsession for some hunters and contributes to the perpetuation of the hunting industry. Implications and risks of trophy hunting for the viability of sport hunting as a traditional recreational pursuit are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hunting is one of the main uses associated with land which, in the current context, has a strong economic significance for rural areas. This work generates knowledge that can be useful for designing strategies that favour the economic dynamisation of rural areas, in a context of population loss and scarce economic diversification. In this sense and based on the results of a survey of hunters (N = 1662), the objectives of the work are first to analyse the territorial distribution and abundance of big game species in Spain and secondly, to examine the existence of correlations, between hunters' income, hunters' gender and preferences for certain big game species. This analysis is based on primary and secondary sources and its characteristics are explained in the methodology section. Univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics were used, specifically the chi-square contingency test, which allows us to determine the relationship of dependence between two variables. We found that female hunters showed greater interest than their male counterparts in hunting big game species, and the same interest was found in hunters with higher income level regardless of their gender. Our results may help to design and develop socio-economic strategies related to supply and demand hunting activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presented here are the results of archaeoparasitological analysis of habitation layers at Shag River Mouth, Otago coast. Two types of helminth eggs were identified: The first type is Toxocara canis, associated with the introduced kurī dog (Canis familiaris), which could have adversely affected local people and their dogs. The other type very closely resembles that of Stringopotaenia psittacea, associated with the critically endangered endemic kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) parrot. The results represent the first South Island archaeo parasitological identifications. There was no starch or associated material in the samples, such as introduced Polynesian crops and indigenous starchy Māori food plants. This lack is consistent with the interpretation of the site as that of a transient village focused on big game hunting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a review of two books: "Large-Scale Traps of the Great Basin" and "Sourcing Archaeological Lithic Assemblages: New Perspectives and Integrated Approaches." The review highlights the main topics and findings of each book. "Large-Scale Traps of the Great Basin" discusses the ancient practice of large animal capture by Indigenous peoples in the Great Basin region of North America. The book provides information on trap design, target species, and the history of archaeological research on this topic. "Sourcing Archaeological Lithic Assemblages" focuses on the methods and techniques used by archaeologists to characterize different types of lithic raw materials. The book includes examples from various global contexts and emphasizes the complexities of chert sourcing. Overall, both books provide valuable insights into ancient hunting practices and lithic provenance studies. [Extracted from the article]

Montana has long been known for the big game hunting opportunities it provides both residents and nonresidents. This may change in the future, as the state confronts a number of challenging issues that pose a serious threat to its long-standing hunting culture. This paper examines key changes that have occurred in recent years involving population and technology, landownership and access, and politics and license allocation. The potential impacts of these issues on the hunting experience are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terry published work with his fellow graduate students J. Knox Jones, Jr. James S. Findley, and Philip H. Krutzsch (3, 7, 8, 11) on projects related to Hall's main interests in the systematics and distribution of North American mammals, but Terry's interests in bat flight were well outside of Hall's areas of expertise. Bibliography of the Published Works of Terry A. Vaughan Vaughan T.A. 1952. The longer NAU expedition in 1973-1974 consisted of Terry and his family (Hazel, Matt, Tony, and Marti), Sherry O'Shea as tutor to the Vaughan children, and graduate students O'Shea (bats), Dick Bowker (reptiles and amphibians), Margie Bowker (dik-diks), and recent graduate Tom Huels (birds). Dr. Terry A. Vaughan passed away at the age of 94 on 9 August 2022 at his home in Rimrock, Arizona, after suffering a stroke during his long convalescence from COVID-19. [Extracted from the article]

One way the legal system helps to maintain a cooperative society is by establishing and enforcing resource-sharing arrangements. These are "resource-sharing laws." Four insights emerge from exploring connections between evolutionary psychology and resource-sharing laws. First, our evolved predispositions to act prosocially and to prefer fair division make it easier to use the law as a tool to share resources. Second, the polygyny prohibition illuminates unique contributions resource-sharing laws can make to the other norms and institutions that facilitate sharing resources. Third, the resource-sharing challenges that arise in hunting big game, a formative endeavor in shaping human behavior, can help to explain the emergence of a predisposition to rely on legal systems to organize social behavior more generally. Fourth, identifying the resource-sharing challenges embedded in market transactions helps to explain the nuanced relationship between prosociality and transactions with strangers. Together these insights demonstrate why law's role as tool to share resources is an important new context in which to explore the role law plays in the development and maintenance of a cooperative society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrion production is one of the most crucial yet neglected and understudied processes in food webs and ecosystems. In this study, we performed a large-scale estimation of the maximum potential production and spatial distribution of ungulate carrion biomass from five major sources in peninsular Spain, both anthropogenic (livestock, big game hunting, roadkills) and natural (predation, natural mortality). Using standardized ungulate carrion biomass (kg/year/100km2) estimates, we evaluated the relationship between ungulate carrion production and two ecosystem-level factors: global human modification (GHM) and primary productivity (NDVI). We found that anthropogenic carrion sources supplied about 60 times more ungulate carrion biomass than natural sources (mean = 90,172 vs. 1533 kg/year/100km2, respectively). Within anthropogenic carrion sources, livestock was by far the major carrion provider (91.1% of the annual production), followed by big game hunting (7.86%) and roadkills (0.05%). Within natural carrion sources, predation of ungulates provided more carrion (0.81%) than natural mortality (0.13%). Likewise, we found that the spatial distribution of carrion differed among carrion sources, with anthropogenic carrion being more aggregated in space than natural carrion. Our models showed that GHM was positively related to carrion production from livestock and roadkills, and that wild ungulate carrion supplied by natural sources and big game hunting was more frequently generated in more productive areas (higher NDVI). These findings indicate a disconnection between the main ungulate carrion source (livestock) and primary productivity. Ongoing socio-economic changes in developed countries (for example increase of intensive livestock husbandry and rewilding processes) could lead to additional alteration of carrion production processes, with potential negative impacts at the community and ecosystem levels. Overall, we highlight that carrion biomass quantification should be considered a crucial tool in evaluating ecosystem health and delineating efficient ecosystem management guidelines in the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first document, titled "Sourcing Archaeological Lithic Assemblages: New Perspectives and Integrated Approaches," provides an overview of various methods used by archaeologists to study lithic materials. The book includes examples from different global contexts and emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary research. The second document, titled "Power and Identity at the Margins of the Ancient Near East," is a collection of conference proceedings that explores the interconnections between power and identity in the ancient Near East. The book focuses on regions that are on the periphery of powerful entities. Both documents offer valuable insights for researchers interested in these topics. [Extracted from the article]

The Court of Justice of the European Union has allowed Member States to prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms to prevent the accidental presence of GMOs in other products. The Constitutional Court of Spain has declared unconstitutional Article 60.2 of the Law on Prevention, Quality, and Environmental Control of the Valencian Community, which establishes positive administrative silence in the granting of environmental licenses. In addition, the Court has annulled several points of the hunting law of Castilla y León that considered the wolf as a game species for big game hunting. They have also ruled on other cases related to the return of greenhouse gas emission rights and the environmental assessment of urban planning plans. The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha has declared a Specific Amendment null and void due to the omission of an essential procedural step. In Navarra, the Superior Court of Justice has dismissed an appeal against the municipal resolution on classified activity for a gravel exploitation project in Buñuel. In Asturias, the Court has dismissed the challenge to a Resolution that denied authorization to modify a power plant in an area where different rivers converge. Additionally, it is mentioned that the Regulation on Annoying, Unhealthy, Harmful, and Dangerous Activities (RAMINP) is applicable in Asturias and that municipalities cannot apply their own criteria that exclude the need to obtain a license for livestock activities in the absence of development of the RAMINP by the regional legislator. [Extracted from the article]

During the 18th century, big game hunting was a practice reserved for the dominant social classes, for reasons of prestige and distinction from other people. However, this hunting model shared the limelight with other types of hunting in which different purposes were pursued. Under these premises, the aim of this work is twofold. On the one hand, to analyse the territorial distribution of big game hunting species at the end of the 18th century, based on the data provided by a far-reaching historical source (Interrogatorio de la Real Audiencia de Extremadura of 1792) and, on the other hand, to establish a comparison with the current distribution of big game hunting reserves located in grassland areas. The material used comes from the Interrogatorio de la Real Audiencia de Extremadura of 1792, consisting of 10 volumes. Specifically, the answers given to question 57 were used, with the information from which a database was constructed, and the results and discussion were prepared. In particular, the answers given to question 57 have been used, with whose information a database was constructed, a semantic analysis was made and the information was implemented in a GIS project. The results show that, in comparative terms with the current reality, it is confirmed that big game species occupy the same territory, with a high coincidence with extensive dehesa areas in Extremadura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will shift the composition of northern Minnesota forests from boreal to temperate by the end of the century. This shift in forest composition will likely affect outdoor recreation, a valuable ecosystem service and a key economic driver for the region. In this context, the objective of our paper is to empirically examine the relationship between forest composition and recreation. We analyze the effect of changes in forest composition for seven forest types on seven types of recreation using a lognormal pooled panel regression model for Minnesota's Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Earlier research showed forest composition affected recreation at the level of broad groups of broadleaved or coniferous species. We find a statistically significant empirical association between forest composition and recreation at the forest type level (forest types within those broad groups). This relationship varies across forest types and recreation categories. For example, big game hunting is positively related to elm-ash-cottonwood and white-red-jack pine and negatively associated with aspen-birch. We find individual forest types within broad groups of broadleaved or coniferous forests, have different relationships with recreation, so that these broad groups are not sufficient in capturing the effect of forest composition on recreation. Our results are of interest in the context of current shifts in forest composition caused by climate change, which could also affect recreation. Our findings suggest adding a forest composition lens to existing policies could facilitate strategies for more effective recreation management and climate change adaptation. • Forest composition has a statistically significant effect across recreation types. • Individual forest types within broad groups have different effects on recreation. • The same forest type has different effects on different types of recreation. • Adding a forest composition lens can improve climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with anthropologist Richard Wrangham is presented. Wrangham talks about his interest in the community arrangements of chimpanzees, their social structure and behavior. He discusses the link of cooking and the genus Homo to the goodness paradox and the application of mimetic theory of desire to collective hunting and group violence upon animals. He criticizes the hypothesis of sacrificial murders and its intersection into the coalitionary killing hypothesis.

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anales de Geografía de la Universidad Complutense is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In December 1983, a highly publicized slaughter of over fifty elk at Wind River Indian Reservation reignited a dispute between the reservation's resident tribes—the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho nations—over wildlife management. In response to diminished big game populations, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe had passed hunting regulations in 1980, but the people of the Northern Arapaho Tribe refused to do so, effectively derailing any attempt to manage wildlife at Wind River. After the Bureau of Indian Affairs imposed a game code on the reservation in 1984, the Northern Arapaho Tribe initiated a legal battle that culminated in the 1987 case of Northern Arapahoe Tribe v. Hodel. The court ruled that because the treaty rights of the two tribes overlapped in the area of wildlife management and because research conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the request of both tribes had revealed a need for hunting regulations, the U.S. government had the power to impose the Wind River Reservation Game Code. Although the tribes jointly manage wildlife today and big game populations now thrive at Wind River, it is important to examine the controversy that involved conflicting visions of and concerns about cultural traditions, tribal sovereignty, and wildlife conservation principles and practices. Exploring how Eastern Shoshones and Northern Arapahos viewed those subjects differently and how their longstanding rivalry at Wind River shaped this conflict highlights some problems with the simplistic and romanticized concept of the "Ecological Indian." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can a jungle be domestic, and a camp servant be a domestic servant? This article argues for a reconceptualisation of historical forests and jungles of India: spaces usually conceived of as wild and hostile in the popular imagination were also a domestic realm. Pushing the boundaries of traditional conceptualisations of both domestic and wild, I examine the lives of late nineteenth to early twentieth-century camp servants and colonial officers living and working in the central Indian hinterland. Building on my work on populations I have referred to as 'subaltern shikaris', typically 'tribal' employees in British big game hunting expeditions, and drawing from a vast literature left behind by European forest officers and big game hunters in central India, this article shows how servants and servitude were vital to establishing that jungle camps could indeed be quite domestic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Qing History Journal is the property of Renmin University of China, Institute of Qing History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a widespread exotic, invasive species that poses ecological, agricultural, and human health risks in invaded areas. Wildlife managers often manage wild pig abundance and expansion to mitigate these risks. The diversity of stakeholders involved in the issue of wild pig management complicates efforts to manage the species, and, to be successful, wildlife professionals should consider the human dimensions associated with wild pig management. The prevalence of privately owned lands in Texas, USA necessitates cooperation to enact effective management policies. In this study, we investigate the factors that affect a hunter's likelihood to participate in wild pig hunting. Multiple factors affect participation in wild pig hunting activities. We found that participation in other types of big game hunting increased the likelihood of participation in wild pig hunting and that wild pig hunting does not deter individuals from participating in other types of hunting activities. Additionally, hunters' attitudes toward wild pigs are important in determining the likelihood of participation in wild pig hunting. Finally, our results suggest that hunters are largely uninformed about wild pigs and do not hold the same perceptions, values, or tolerance levels of the species. The diversity of preferences among wild pig hunters necessitates that wildlife managers consider the desires of the public as well as natural resource needs in creating socially acceptable management plans for the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decree 65/2011 regulates the conservation of hunting species in Castilla y León, their sustainable use, and the population control of wild fauna. This decree develops the titles of the Hunting Law of Castilla y León, establishing rules for the protection of hunting species and the conservation of their populations. It also defines the modalities of big game hunting and small game hunting, as well as the conditions for the use of weapons and other hunting methods. Additionally, it regulates population controls on wild fauna and hunting species, the keeping of specimens in captivity, commercialization, and the movement of wild fauna. The decree came into effect on November 24, 2011. [Extracted from the article]

The conservation of biodiversity and rational use of biological resources should be conducted with a view to population genetics. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the genetic diversity of highly distributed red deer groups from Słowiński National Park (NP) and hunting areas (HA) in northern Poland using 10 dinucleotide microsatellites. In 254 animals, 112 alleles were observed with a high allelic number (NA = 7–15). The NP and HA groups showed high mean heterozygosity (Ho = 0.548 ± 0.063–0.613 ± 0.061) compared to other deer populations in Europe, although a slight decrease in heterozygosity and an increase in inbreeding was identified in NP, compared to HA. A high level of intra-group and a low level of inter-group genetic differentiation was found, which was supported by a high level of gene flow between NP and HA. Structure analysis revealed two genetic clusters (NP and HA) within the population. The HA cluster was distinguished by numerous private alleles, although the NP cluster was distinguished by a high frequency of two private alleles. These study results show that unhunted conservation areas may affect red deer density without increasing genetic diversity whereas hunting does not seem to have a negative impact on deer genetic diversity. This study affirms the anthropogenic impact on the red deer groups in both NP and HA. Ongoing monitoring of the red deer population with an effective sampling strategy is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the concept of the "true hunter" (vrai chasseur) among big game hunters in French colonial Indochina. Drawing primarily on French language texts published by highly experienced European hunters between 1910 and 1950, it first examines in detail the true hunter ethic, which required hunters to hunt and kill their prey in a "sporting" (sportif) manner. This ethic involved adherence to an expansive and complicated set of rules related to stalking, marksmanship, knowledge possession, restraint, prey selection, choice of firearms and ammunition, and others. True hunting was regarded as by definition difficult and, as is argued, the practical realization of the true hunter ideal entailed not simply engaging in hunting as an activity, but instead successfully performing a very difficult but specific type of killing. The article's second purpose is to engage a paradox associated with the texts, their authors, and the ethic. While critical of other hunters for "unnecessary slaughter," many killed staggering numbers of animals. This paradox is accounted for by placing the true hunters in the broader social context of colonial Indochina. Both their type of sport hunting and the virtuosity of their killing distinguished them from the indigenous populations that served their hunts and other European hunters. This virtuosity also legitimized the scale of their killing and placed these hunters into a distinctive social and moral community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bar = 100 m. gl Given the similarity between the X-shaped lesions in both cases including size, shape, and location of the lesions on the body, these lesions were suspected to be a pattern injury (a lesion from the same or similar source). Upon further comparison to fishery interaction injuries, the lesions were found to be unlike typical markings caused by monofilament gill net or other known net entanglement lesions. Although broadhead arrows can cause wounds that extend into the skeletal muscle, shallow penetration injuries by a broadhead arrow have been documented in animals. Accordingly, there have been a total of 20 documented gunshot wounds to dolphins in the nGOM (most since 2011; Vail, [26]), and in 2018 a criminal case was opened when a pregnant dolphin was found stranded after being shot in Mississippi (NOAA Fisheries, [17]). [Extracted from the article]

This Comment critiques the court of appeals' statutory interpretation of Alaska's hunting laws in Kinmon v. State and proposes legislative reform to correct those judicially created errors. Kinmon arose from a series of hunts between 2009 and 2011 during which nonresident hunters did not pay for their big game tags until after the completion of their hunts. The guide leading these hunts was charged with violating section 16.05.340(a)(15) of the Alaska Statutes, which prohibits nonresidents from hunting big game without "previously purchasing" a big game tag. The Alaska Court of Appeals held in favor of the guide, reasoning that "previously purchasing" was ambiguous and could be understood to permit purchase of a big game tag after a hunt. This reading of the statute is faulty under the plain meaning canon of statutory construction and has deleterious policy implications. To address this error, this Comment proposes a legislative amendment to section 16.06.340(a)(15) of the Alaska Statutes to clarify that "previously purchasing" a game tag requires purchase prior to a hunt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most confusing and least academically understood fields of the tourism industry at global level is ironically the lucrative and highly priced phenomenon of big game hunting which is often carried out as a means of recreational sport. Colloquially known variously as trophy hunting , sport hunting or safari hunting , the practice of big game hunting represents one of the fastest growing and perhaps most controversial aspects of both sport and income generating activities involving wildlife exploitation. The multi-billion-dollar industry, which is often targeted for criticism by animal rights groups that oppose killing of animals on moral grounds, is examined critically from a pro-hunting perspective. In a bid to establish whether trophy hunting qualifies as a true sport or not, the study unravels how human lust for money has reduced trophy hunting into a mafioso-like syndicate with little or no scruples for sporting and conservation principles which are essential ingredients to qualify hunting as a true sport. This study is therefore a milestone not only in putting together major principles upon which trophy hunting bases its claims as a sport, but also in unravelling secretive abuses of wildlife that deny trophy hunting the status of sport that its original hunting philosophers had envisaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-jacketed lead-cored or copper-based homogenous rifle bullets are commonly used for hunting big game. Ever since their introduction in the 1990's, copper-based bullets have not been widely accepted by hunters due to limited supply, higher expense, and the perception that they exhibit inferior killing efficiency and correspondingly higher wounding rates. Here, we present data showing that animal flight distances for roe deer, red deer, brown bear, and moose dispatched with lead- or copper-based hunting bullets did not significantly differ from an animal welfare standardized animal flight distance based on body mass. Lead-cored bullets typical fragment on impact, whereas copper-based bullets retain more mass and expand more than their leaden counterparts. Our data demonstrate that the relative killing efficiency of lead and copper bullets is similar in terms of animal flight distance after fatal shots. Hunters that traditionally use lead bullets should consider switching to copper bullets to enhance human and environmental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Development from extracting oil and gas resources can have unintended effects on multiple ecosystem functions, with cascading effects on wildlife, ecosystem services, and local economies. Big-game hunting opportunities may be closely related to these effects, but empirical analyses of impacts of energy development on hunting are limited. We examined the influence of oil and gas development density on harvest efficiency, or harvest per unit of hunter effort, within all hunt areas in Wyoming, USA, from 2008 to 2014 for 3 big-game species: elk ( Cervus canadensis), mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus), and pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana). Using harvest/hunter day as the response variable, we compared linear mixed-effects models for each species that included total well density (i.e., all wells constructed up to the year of record), active well density (i.e., only those wells currently producing oil or gas in that year), or neither as a predictor variable. We used well densities as indicators of development in the absence of data specifying the locations of other oil and gas infrastructure (e.g., roads, well pads). Models also accounted for the fixed effects of road density, hunter density, proportion of the area that is public land with unrestricted hunter access, proportion of the area that is forested, year of observation, and random effects of variation among hunt areas nested within associated game herd units. Presence of oil and gas wells had a positive influence on harvest efficiency for elk and mule deer. Although there was no overall effect to pronghorn, there was a negative influence of wells on juvenile pronghorn harvest efficiency. Changes in harvest efficiency due to expanding oil and gas development could alter the time spent hunting by hunters and their chances of harvesting an animal. This could have subsequent impacts on hunter satisfaction, game populations, and economic revenue generated from recreational hunters. © 2016 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hunting lease revenue can be a reliable supplemental income for forest landowners. Although studies have examined factors influencing per acre lease rates, little is known about how various characteristics are capitalized in hunting club dues. The objective of this study was to conduct a hedonic analysis of big game hunting club dues in Georgia, USA using a variety of club-, site-, and location-specific characteristics. To accomplish this objective, multivariate regression analysis was applied to explain variation in hunters’ self-reported big game hunting club dues in 2012. Implicit price was then calculated for each significant covariate. Club size, presence of food plots, and game quality had positive effects on club dues, whereas membership number had a negative effect. These results should be useful for landowners and club lease managers interested in enhancing the marketability of their hunting sites and understanding the effect of management actions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of the present work was to analyze game management in the city of Cracow in the years 1972 /73-2016/17. The paper focuses on the population size and hunting of large game (red deer Cervus elaphus, roe deer Capreolus capreolus, and wild boar Sus scrofa), and evaluates the individual quality of roebucks and boars hunted within the city limits. Recent years have revealed increasing numbers of ungulates in the studied area, as well as higher hunting intensity thereof. The mean weight of roebuck carcasses and antlers in particular age classes (Table 3) were amongst the largest in Poland. This suggests that roe deer have found some satisfactory habitats in Cracow with an ample food base, translating into high quality of individual animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnohistorical and ethnographic observations from around the world indicate that projectiles were often made differently for warfare and hunting. Using experiential archaeology and analysis of a thousand years' worth of data from the middle Gila River in Arizona, the authors argue that side notched arrow points were produced for hunting large animals and were designed to be retrieved and reused, while unnotched points were intended for single use and for another purpose: to kill people. The data suggests furthermore that the region witnessed a steady increase in levels of violence during the period under study. Keywords: Gila River, Arizona, Archaic, pre-Classic, Classic, historic, flaked-stone projectile points, experimental archaeology, warfare, hunting, Introduction Ethnographic documentation from throughout the world indicates that stone projectile points were generally designed for hunting big game animals (>40kg) or for use in warfare, and arrow tips intended [...]

Big game acquisition is viewed as pivotal in the evolution of early hominins and is often associated with the emergence of features that are hallmarks of Homo . We explore the energetic justification for the preference for big game under the premise that larger-sized prey is always more efficiently exploited than smaller-sized game. Using quantitative cost/benefit data derived from ethnographic, ethnoarchaeological and historic sources, we show that certain large-sized game (megafauna) are often more expensive to acquire than smaller-sized prey. Comparative analysis shows that African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ), the largest-sized terrestrial animal, are lower ranked and less efficient to acquire than many smaller-sized animals irrespective of their encounter rates. These data challenge the idea that prey body size can be used as a proxy for profitability and rank in zooarchaeological analyses. Prey profitability, especially for large-sized and costly taxa, is strongly influenced by prey characteristics relative to existing dispatch technology and the range of nonconsumptive benefits associated with hunting certain megafauna. Nonconsumptive rewards associated with these opportunities can only be gained by certain individuals and are not broadly available to everyone. We suggest that the idea of ‘big game’ specialization needs to be reframed in archaeology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the practice of taxidermy and its relationship to the 'golden age' of big game hunting, the science of natural history and the dramaturgical codes of empire by looking at the collecting exploits of one man, Major Percy Powell-Cotton (1866-1940), and his attempts to preserve the spoils of the hunt in the 'great indoors'. As various scholars have pointed out, taxidermy offers up a vivid and striking 'afterlife' of the animal with a unique (and some might say unsavoury) ability to elucidate our environmental and cultural relations with other species. As such, the reanimated animals of empire, posed on the walls of the country estate or arrested in museum cases, represent valuable historical artefacts ripe for unstitching. Drawing on the work of Garry Marvin, Sam Alberti and Merle Patchett, this article stalks Powell-Cotton's taxidermic project across various sites of capture, production and display (what I call necrogeographies) to illuminate the sinuous contours of imperial natural history and the stories of pursuit, production and performance lurking beneath the skin of the reanimated animal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many attempts have been made to define and reconstruct the most plausible ecological and dietary niche of the earliest members of the human species. While earlier models emphasise big-game hunting in terrestrial, largely savannah environments, more recent scenarios consider the role of marine and aquatic foods as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and other brain-selective nutrients. Along the coast of southern Africa, there appears to be an association between the emergence of anatomically modern humans and accumulation of some of the earliest shell middens during the Middle Stone Age (200–40 ka). Fragmentary fossil remains classified as those of anatomically modern humans, along with marine food residues and numerous material cultural indicators of increased social and behavioural complexity have been recovered from coastal sites. In this paper, new information on the nutrient content of marine and terrestrial foods available to early modern humans in the southwestern Cape is presented and compared with existing data on the nutritional value of some wild plant and animal foods in Africa. The results suggest that coastal foraging, particularly the collection of abundant and predictable marine molluscs, would have allowed early modern humans to exploit some of the richest and most accessible sources of protein, micronutrients and longer-chain omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Reliable and accessible sources of omega-3 eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid are considerably more restricted in terrestrial foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective mitigation of the risks posed by environmental contaminants for ecosystem integrity and human health requires knowing their sources and spatio-temporal distribution. We analysed the exposure to lead (Pb) in griffon vulture Gyps fulvus-an apex species valuable as biomonitoring sentinel. We determined vultures' lead exposure and its main sources by combining isotope signatures and modelling analyses of 691 bird blood samples collected over 5 years. We made yearlong spatially explicit predictions of the species risk of lead exposure. Our results highlight elevated lead exposure of griffon vultures (i.e. 44.9% of the studied population, approximately 15% of the European, showed lead blood levels more than 200 ng ml21) partly owing to environmental lead (e.g. geological sources). These exposures to environmental lead of geological sources increased in those vultures exposed to point sources (e.g. lead-based ammunition). These spatial models and pollutant risk maps are powerful tools that identify areas of wildlife exposure to potentially harmful sources of lead that could affect ecosystem and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses whether lion trophy hunting and phototourism should be treated based on the same principles. Topics include the significance of both activities to lion conservation, the importance of consistency in attitudes toward wildlife, and the problems associated with poorly managed phototourism and trophy hunting. Also cited are the organizations that promote lion conservation by restricting the international movement of animal parts, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.